1. Health System Presented by: Neil Francis John Bohol
Chester John Rebecca

2. Introduction
Aside from being scientific truism, wellness and illness are social, cultural, and political construct as well. This lesson explores these facets of health and health system seen as products of human experience, and hence revolve around multiplicity of meaning-making system involving the body, nature, and relations.

3. Sociology of Health and Illness
The sociology of health and illness, alternatively the sociology of health and wellness (or simply health sociology), examines the interaction between Society and Health.
The objective of this topic is to see how social life affects morbidity and mortality rate, and vice versa.
This aspect of sociology differs from medical sociology in that this branch of sociology discusses health and illness in relation to social institutions such as family, employment, and school. The sociology of medicine limits its concern to the patient-practitioner relationship and the role of health professionals in society.
The sociology of health and illness covers sociological pathology (causes of disease and illness), reasons for seeking particular types of medical aid, and patient compliance or noncompliance with medical regimes.

4. Health Systems in the Philippines
In the Philippines, there is a decentralized health delivery system headed by Department of Health as the regulatory authority.
It develops national plans, technical standards, and healthcare guidelines for all Filipinos.

5. Cultural Construct of Health and the Filipino Attributions of Illness
Culture around the world have manifold ways of taxonomizing the various levels of health and equally esoteric classification of illness. Hence, illness and health syndromes can be culture specific as well.

6. Philippines has its set of language refer to health and illness
The filipinos have their own culture –specific syndromes and attributions on illness such as usog and bughat.
Usog is filipino belief regarding the discomfort brought about by a stranger or visitor who is thought to have an evil eye (masamang mata) or who bring an evil wind or a hex.
Bughat (ilonggo term) or binat (tagalog version) is term used to refer to the ailments (headache, chills, body pains, malaise, dizziness, muscle weakness, and some it is blindness).

7. Filipino Systems of Diagnosis Prevention, Healing, and Health Promotion
When it comes to health promotion and treatment concepts, the Filipino beliefs are oriented toward protection of the body in three metaphoric ways – flushing, heating, and protecting.
Flushing
- Filipinos thought of the body vessel to be vessel or container which can collect impurities.
Heating
- The concept of hot and cold is included as dichotomy of balance. By heating, balance is believed to be restored
Protecting
- is a general procedure that act as a gate keeping system to guard the body or covering it.

8. Health Beliefs and Behavior
Filipino indigenous health beliefs is characterized by the principle of balance. This a
key indigenous health concept that includes a complex set of fundamental
principle. The balance is noticeably anchored on the range of “hot” and “cold”
beliefs concerning humornal balances in the body and food and dietary balances
includes following:
Rapid shifts from hot to cold lead to illness.
Warm environment is essential to maintain optimal health.
Cold drinks or food should be avoided in the morning.
An overheated body is vulnerable; and heated body or muscle can get “shocked” when cooled suddenly.
A layer of fat (being stout) is preferred to maintain warmth and protect vital energy.
Heat and cooling relate to quality and balance of air in the body.
Sudden changes in weather patterns.

9. Filipino Theories of Illness
Physical and mental health illness are viewed holistically as an equilibrium model. Explanatory models may include mystical, personalistic, naturalistic, and viral/bacterial causes.
Mystical causes are often associated with experiences or behaviors such as retribution from ancestors for unfulfilled obligations. Some believe in soul loss and that sleep related to wandering of soul out body known as bangungot, or nightmares after a heavy meal may result in death.
Personalistic causes may be attributed to social punishment or retribution by supernatural beings such as an evil spirit, witch, or mangkukulam(sorcerer). A stronger spirit such as a healer or priest may counteract this force. For protection, using holy oils, wearing anting-anting (amulet or talisman) may be recommended.

10. Naturalistic causes includes a range factors from nature events(thunder, lightning, drafts, etc), excessive stress, incompatible food and drugs, infection, or familial susceptibility. The basic logic of health and illness consists of prevention (avoiding inappropriate behavior that leads to imbalance) and curing (restoring balance); it is a system oriented to moderation. Parallel to this holistic belief system is the understanding of modern medicine with its own basic logic and principle that treats certain types of diseases. These two systems coexist, and Filipino elders use dual system as health care.
Bacterial/Viral causes; There is an increasing number of people who are already swayed by the power of science. The concept virus and bacteria, hence of infection and allergies, and poisoning. A lot of illnesses are now attributed to as effects of these entities invading the body and making the body weak and defenseless.

11. Cultural Health Actors
Cultural health actors perform specific activities that are more or less associated with flushing, heating, and protecting.
Cultural healers help to protect the body and treat it supernaturally with herbal/medicine treatments, incantations, and offerings.
In the biomedical world, the hierarchy of healers and specialist in the Philippine folk medicine can be categories as some sort of specialists in their own right.

12. The hilot refers both to manghihilot and nagpapaanak.
For example
The albularyo may be seen as the “general practitioner.” He/She is knowledgeable about folkloric modalities and is usually especially versed in the use of medicinal herbs.
The hilot refers both to manghihilot and nagpapaanak.
The mangluluop specializes in diagnostic techniques, usually referring the patients after diagnosis to the albularyo, medico, or manghihilot for definitive treatments.
The medico is a hybrid, sort of crossover specialization. He/She merges age-old folkloric modalities with ingredients of western medicine- ‘prescription’ medications, acupuncture, etc.

13. Health as Human Right
The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all
medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working
conditions, and a clean environment. Specifically, the human right to health
entitles every individual to the following:
The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all.
Everyone has the right to the health care they need and to living conditions that enable them to be healthy, such as adequate food, housing, and, equitably.

14. Key human rights standard
Universal Access
Availability
Acceptability and dignity
Quality
Nondiscrimination
Transparency
Participation